Home Away From Home
by CrazyApplesandOranges
Summary: Princess Temari is supposed to marry Prince Katsu; she doesn't want to though. She flees to Konoha, where her friends will try their best to help her-one in particular. Shikamaru Nara. On hiatus
1. Chapter 1

Temari stands up from her seat and forces a smile as her future husband bows to her father.

"I shall see you next week," Katsu whispers as he struts past her. The blonde raises a hand in goodbye as he mounts his horse and rides away.

Temari scowls as soon as Katsu is out of sight. God, she hates being a princess. What she wouldn't give to be a peasant…

Gaara stares at their father, Kankuro next to him. It is ridiculous how much Gaara craved their father's approval; Temari doesn't care as long as she was able to leave the Sand Village frequently. Anything to get away from her future as Katsu's bride.

Kankuro glances at her as she picks up her skirts and tiptoes behind her father's throne to get to the staircase. Once there, she slips her shoes off and holds them in one hand as she runs up them quickly and silently. She has had tons of practice sneaking down to the kitchens for a midnight snack.

Servants are in the hallway, cleaning and exchanging words of gossip. Temari strides past them and into her rooms, closing the heavy door and leaning against it.

She breathes out tiredly, crossing to her dresser. Opening the bottom drawer, she hunts around for a moment before finding the catch to open the false bottom.

Her brother had made the dresser for her birthday three years ago; Kankuro was excellent at making things out of wood, and he was in charge of getting her present that year. She had also needed a new dresser, and he had figured that it would be a good hiding place for anything she wanted to keep from the servants.

She pulls out several things—books her father banned, jewelry from various people her father didn't like, and finally, clothes.

She sighs and straightens, padding across the room to her window. She gazes out at the desert, yearning to be one of the people who wandered its vast oceans of sand. She yanks the curtains closed, biting back a shout.

Temari plucks the clothes off the floor, setting them on her bed. The servants had made it recently, and the blue quilt her mother had made for her when she was ten was spread over her sheets carefully. She runs her hand over the soft quilt sadly before forcing herself to undress.

Her skirts drop to the ground once they leave her body. The warm air touches her frustratingly, and she pulls the men's trousers over her lower body with a grimace. She really hates the Sand Village sometimes.

She buttons up the shirt and pulls the jacket on to cover her feminine figure. She goes back over to the dresser and fishes around in the still-open drawer for her hat. She pulls it out and goes back to the bed, kicking her confusing clothes under it.

Her mirror stands against the wall across the room. She strides over to it and jams her long blonde hair under the brown hat, successfully hiding the fact that she is a girl.

This was the only way she could go out anymore; everyone knew her as Princess Temari, the young woman who would be marrying Katsu Deyushi of the Land of Lightning, strengthening the alliance between the two lands.

When she was dressed as a man, however, she was just another villager trying to find something. No one cared. No one thanked her for her duty to her home. She was just there.

She glances at her reflection one more time before walking to her closet. She pulls the door closed behind her and carefully feels along the wall until she finds the crack. She trails her palm down the crack until she reaches the floor, where she taps the ground until a creak indicates the door is open.

She stands up and grabs the lantern hanging inside the door. She lights the wick and it flares to life, illuminating the walls. Temari slides the door closed and starts forward, moving with a purpose she doesn't normally have.

The tunnel out of the castle continues for only a couple more hundred feet before sloping upwards towards the garden. She pushes the rusted door open and emerges into the fresh air. She takes a deep breath and glares out at the brutal sun.

She adjusts her hat to cover her face and walks around to the front of the castle, finding her brother sitting on a rock with a piece of wood in his lap. Kankuro looks up as she walks past, and she subtly gestures at him with her right hand; she will be gone five days visiting the Leaf Village. If she was gone longer, he would know where to find her.

He nods, just barely, and she smiles under her hat and keeps walking. He will know how to cover for her; he always does.

The walk to Konoha would take two days; a day and a half if she moved fast. She can always borrow her horse from the stable; she often took these trips and her father would be used to it. He would not approve but he could not stop her. She was legally an adult. She could make her own choices.

Temari doesn't know why her father even keeps horses; their kingdom is the desert. Most people used camels, if they had to. A horse was rare in the desert; even in their castle area, where there was more vegetation and was closer to the border of the sand.

Her horse is a thoroughbred, a beautiful chestnut color. Saki is her best friend, and she is always able to get her to where Temari needs to go. She makes sure she always has enough water and food to last Saki through the desert, at least until they got to the Land of Fire, where there was plenty of vegetation and water for her to use.

She has a bag specifically for trips like these; there was a sleeping bag, a tent (which she never used), and packets of food and bottles of water. She keeps it hidden in Saki's stable, on a high shelf out of Saki's reach. No one checks there, and it is one of the best hiding places there is.

Gaara is with his horse in the stable next to Saki's, brushing Keegan's coat. Her youngest brother glances up at her when she walked in. He doesn't say anything about her appearance, just shakes his head and goes back to his brushing.

"Gaara," Temari says quietly. "Tell Father where I'm going if you must. But don't do it because you feel that it's the right thing to do. Because it won't. You'll just get me in trouble and I do not need that."

"I was not planning on it, Temari," Gaara responds just as softly. "You know I would do no such thing."

"I can never tell with you," Temari murmurs quietly. She opens the door to Saki's stable and smiles as her horse whinnies at her. Someone has prepared her horse for riding, and she guesses that it was Kankuro. Her brother never ceases to amaze her.

She leads Saki out of the stable and outside, where the sand slips and slides under their feet. Temari curses the fact that she forgot to wear her sandals.

Gaara has followed them outside, and is staring at Temari with a look of disbelief. She ignores him. Kankuro watches from the other side of the yard, his eyes shadowed by the hood over his head.

Temari walks with her horse to the path winding through the village, leading out into the desert and to Konoha. She easily mounts Saki and pushes the horse into walking, starting on her way to where she was treated like she should be.

Her home away from home.

A/N: This is my new story. Definitely different from what I usually write, but I wanted to try it. Plus I need all the stories I can get; must get to 100! 59 more to go!

Please review and tell me what you think. So far I like it. It doesn't really matter what I think though, I guess.


	2. Chapter 2

Temari passes her father's soldiers on the way out of Suna. They glance at her curiously, but she tilts her face down at such an angle that they can't recognize her. She sighs in relief when she leaves the village behind and enters the harsh sun of the desert.

She can see the forest already, even though it's a day's walk from here. Faster on a horse. But she has to go slowly, in case Saki has trouble in the sand. But the path she's on has been swept clean of sand by the wind recently, so she should be fine.

Saki seems restless. _She must want to get back to Konoha also_, Temari muses. The horse is moving faster than she normally does, probably trying to leave the feeling of confinement. The blonde doesn't blame her horse; she wants to be rid of this place just as badly as Saki does.

They are halfway to the border before the soldiers are after them, pushing their horses at a gallop to get to them before they leave Suna. Temari smirks and leans forward to whisper in Saki's ear.

"You can do it, girl. These guys can never beat you."

Saki snorts and breaks into a gallop, loose sand on the path leaving a dust cloud behind them. Temari smiles.

The soldiers are shouting at her, but she can't understand what they're saying. She wouldn't be surprised if her father was among them, ready to punish her for leaving without permission.

She doesn't care.

Her hat has fallen off from the wind, and her long blonde hair is streaming behind her. She growls, because she knows that it will be a pain to comb out that night. Right now, though, her main goal is to get to the Land of Fire. And she's almost there.

The forest is closer now. Saki puts on a burst of speed and Temari glances behind her to see how the soldiers are doing. They are far behind them, only at the halfway point. She giggles and looks forward again, knowing that once she gets to the border they can't chase her anymore.

The blessed shadows that envelop her as they reach the forest make her sigh as she pats her horse. Saki doesn't seem to want to stop now that she's started, and Temari lets her gallop for a while longer, at least until they reach a river and the guards are nowhere in sight.

She stretches out on the cool grass as Saki drinks from the river. This is what she missed; the cool air, the sound of rushing water, green grass. She would give anything to live here.

The blonde stands and walks over to the river, where she soaks her long hair in the water. She pulls a hair tie from her bag and braids her hair back so it's out of her face. Then she splashes water on her face to get rid of the dirt.

She looks up when she feels eyes on her. Her teal eyes catch movement across the river and she stands, crossing the shallow water to the other side.

There she sees someone very out of place. Shikamaru Nara.

"Shikamaru?" she says. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to drop off a package to an old man living around here. What are you doing here?" Shikamaru counters. "Did you run away again?"

"Yes," Temari states. "I was on my way to Konoha."

"Great." Shikamaru nods. "Let's go then. I finished my mission, I have to go back and report to Minato-sama anyways."

They walk back through the river to Saki. Temari mounts her again and Shikamaru walks beside them as they start on their way.

"So how are things going?" Temari asks curiously. Her father never lets her listen in on conversations about the other lands; he feared that the more she knew about other lands she would realize that her life would be better somewhere else. Where would he be with no daughter to marry off and strengthen alliances?

"Great," Shikamaru answers. "Minato-sama just recently promoted me."

"That's great!" she exclaims. "Congratulations."

"It's no big deal." He shrugs. "Now I'm just the head of the intelligence department."

"That suits you," Temari chuckles. She loved the time she gets to spend with her friends from Konoha—especially Shikamaru—because none of them was looking for flaws that she had to correct because she was "the princess and had to be perfect for all occasions."

That was what she loved about Konoha also. They weren't as strict as her father's kingdom was. The king, Minato, never pressured his son, Naruto, to do anything he didn't want to. Everything Naruto does is his own choice. Temari wishes she had that.

"How are your parents?"

Shikamaru chuckles, skirting a pothole in the road. Saki easily steps over it. "Mom has gone insane planning Ino's wedding with her."

"Ino's getting married?" Temari repeats, looking down at her friend.

"Yeah." He nods. "Remember Sai?"

"He finally asked?" she gasps. "Oh my God, that's great!"

"Ino seems to think so." His face darkens slightly. "Ever since her mom died my mom seems to think that it's her responsibility to keep Ino happy. Apparently the way to do that is go crazy over wedding plans."

"That's great," Temari says. Shikamaru smiles.

"Yeah, it is."

They walk in silence for a couple more miles. And then a couple more. By the time Temari speaks again they've continued for nearly ten miles.

"I wish that I didn't have to live with my father," she mutters.

Shikamaru glances up at her. "Is he still that bad?"

"Even worse." Temari nods. "He's been demanding that I start thinking about my future with Katsu." She shudders. "I can't stand him."

"You know," Shikamaru says. "You can run away. Konoha can easily hide you."

"He'll know I'm there."

"We have enough power to keep Suna in check."

"Are you sure?"

"Temari, I know. You would be perfectly safe there," he promises.

She nods slowly. "Okay. But I swear, if something happens to me, I'm blaming you."

He laughs. "Fine with me."

A/N: Please, please review! I love reviews, they make me happy and not as depressed. You don't want me depressed.


	3. Chapter 3

Konoha is the same as always. Tall trees surrounding the village, with impossibly high gates and soldiers guarding the entry of civilians, merchants, and soldiers every day. Shops lined up on streets, villagers stumbling in and out to get a brief reprieve from the brutal sun.

Temari briefly wonders how her father plans on getting her back, before Shikamaru is herding her to the stables so that someone can care for her horse. Saki snorts and tosses her head before following the civilian.

Shikamaru leads her to the home of Minato, and she starts shaking. Her arrival was unexpected, and her father may have already sent a message to the lord of this land that says Minato is to send her back to Suna immediately. They would be forced to follow that order for the sake of their alliance with Suna.

They pass servants and friends of Shikamaru's, all too distracted to notice the 'man' standing next to the Nara is actually Temari. Neither of them bothers to say anything.

They had bought another hat for Temari at a small shop along the way. Her hair is tucked up inside of it again, and the brim is tilted down to hide her face. She doesn't know why she's so paranoid; maybe because she feels that maybe she should have at least said goodbye to a few of her friends before leaving. It was too late now, though, and she just had to hope that somehow they'll know.

That doesn't explain how she's staying upright as she sways in front of the door that will lead them to Minato. Shikamaru notices, but doesn't say anything; she appreciates him for that fact.

He pushes open the door, and Temari stumbles forward, her usual grace abandoning her at the time she probably needs it the most.

Minato blinks at the appearance of her and Shikamaru, and he probably doesn't notice who is standing next to the Nara until she lifts her head and her hat is pushed back far enough to see her face. The blonde chuckles.

"Well, Temari," he says. His son glances up from his position behind Minato and smiles at the couple. Shikamaru raises a hand in response. "I heard you had vanished again. How was your trip?"

Temari takes in a shuddering breath, knowing what is coming next. "I-it was good."

Minato smiles softly, dropping the proper act he's supposed to have all day long. "That's good. I see Shikamaru found you." She nods.

"Temari," he sighs. "You have to stop doing this."

"Why? I hate my father for controlling ever single aspect of my life. This is the perfect way to get back at him."

Minato shakes his head. "I know you don't like it, but your father is just trying to do what he thinks is best for you. You're his daughter; he wants you to have a happy life."

"And he's doing it all wrong!" Her voice is rising, and she forces herself to calm down. "He is not giving me happiness by arranging a marriage with Katsu. He is giving me a lifetime of servitude to a husband who loves women too much to give them up."

"Now, Temari, that's not true."

"But it is! Lord Minato, I respect you for everything you've done for me. And I respect you for trying to convince me that I need to return to Suna. But I can't." Temari shudders, forcing herself to look up and meet Minato's bright blue eyes.

"Lord Minato, I will leave if you force me to. But I will not return to the hell that is my life in Suna."

Shikamaru is staring at her, and he has good reason to. She has never talked to Minato this way before; he was like a second father to her most of the time. But now she doesn't care about how disgusted her teachers would be by her actions, and how her father would probably lock her in her room.

All she wants is to be somewhere where it doesn't matter who you are, because everyone treats you the same.

Is that too much to ask?

Minato sighs, tapping his fingers against the side of his chair. Then he beckons his son forward with a hand and says, "Naruto, take Temari to a spare room. She can stay here for the duration of her stay."

Naruto nods and steps forward to lightly grasp her wrist, tugging her forwards. He smiles at her reassuringly when she hesitates. Her father always told her not to trust certain people.

Then again, he also taught her to be the perfect little princess, and look how that went.

She follows him through the maze of hallways up to her room.

/\/\

Shikamaru groans, rubbing a hand over his neck. "Minato-sama, I don't like the look of this. Any day now they're going to attack."

Minato passes a hand through his hair, tilting his head back against the chair. "Shikamaru," he says quietly. "How fast can you spread the word that we need to prepare for war?"

"Fast enough."

"Good." The blonde waves to a nearby guard and the man steps forward.

"Yes, Lord Hokage?"

"I hate the sound of that," Minato grumbles, then shakes his head. "Kakashi, guard Princess Temari. Don't let her out of your sight. If anything seems suspicious, report to Shikaku immediately."

"Yes, sir."

Kakashi leaves the room. Shikamaru stares after him, feeling sick to his stomach now that the knowledge was sinking in.

Suna was preparing for war. And they were hopeless to stop them.

/\/\

Temari leans against the door and takes in breath after breath, forcing her heart to calm down. She was fine. As long as Minato was on her side, her father couldn't get to her.

Naruto had gone to his own room, telling her that dinner was in a couple hours. Temari doesn't know _how _she's going to get to the dining room from her room, but maybe someone could help her.

She trudges over to the window, yanking the curtains open. She gazes out at the village, wondering how her brothers were doing. At least Kankuro would protect her until the death. He was the most loyal brother ever.

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! They motivate me so much! Reviews=updates! It is a very simple math equation. Just remember that.


	4. Chapter 4

Temari frowns at Minato as he pushes his food around his plate. Kushina pats her husband's hand lightly, smiling. He smiles reassuringly at her, but it fades as he stares at his plate again.

"Lord Minato," she says quietly. He looks up at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, Temari," he says, his fork falling next to his plate. He sighs. "Nothing is wrong."

She studies his eyes, shaking her head. "Sir, something is wrong. I can tell."

Naruto stares between the two of them, his food long forgotten. Kushina sighs and beckons to a servant, leaning back in her chair. The servant clears the dishes, and Kushina smiles at the woman.

Minato stares at Temari for a long time, finally groaning. "Okay," he says. "You got me. There is a war brewing."

"With who?" Naruto asks, leaning forward.

Minato takes a breath before plunging forward. "Suna."

Temari sucks in a harsh breath and drops her fork with surprise. "S-Suna?" she repeats, not understanding the words the blonde has just said.

Minato nods, passing a hand over his face. "Temari, I apologize—"

"Why?" she interrupts. "Why would they do this?"

"It seems Suna has been getting more and more…frustrated…with you always leaving and coming here," Minato says. "This time you apparently crossed the line. Shikamaru found out that your father is planning to come here and demand you come back, or he'll destroy Konoha."

Temari grits her teeth and her eyes fall shut. She abruptly stands up, her napkin falling to the ground. She opens her eyes and turns away from her hosts, not letting them see the pain in her teal eyes.

She heard Minato calling after her, but she ignores him and goes to her room. She shits the door quietly, then sinks down to the ground and buries her head in her arms.

"Oh no…" she breathes. "This is all my fault."

She stares at the wall across from her, ignoring Naruto as he pleads with her to open the door. She doesn't.

Eventually Naruto walks away. She stands up shakily, shivering. She strides over to the window, gazing down at the garden before lifting her eyes to look over the trees. She imagines that she can see the edge of the desert, Suna, barely a day's walk from her father.

Would her father really attack Konoha? She doesn't know; Suna and Konoha have held an alliance for as long as she could remember.

She remembers once, when she was six, coming to Konoha with her family. They were greeted with kindness, and they had been led to the castle. Minato was there to welcome them, as usual, with a small Naruto in Kushina's arms.

Gaara and Naruto had been brought to the nursery, where a servant watched them while they plated with each other. She and Kankuro stayed with their mother and Kushina as they talked, the two of them playing on the floor with some wooden toys Kankuro had brought with him.

Their father and Minato had left to talk about politics, and Temari remembers wondering when her father was going to back. She had adored the man when she was that young, oblivious to how her father controlled other peoples' lives.

She and Kankuro had, for the most part, been ignored by their mother. They had been able to slip out of the room undetected, following the raised voices to the dining room. Their father and Minato had been shouting and screaming at each other, loud enough for Kushina and their mother to finally leave their room and see what was going on.

When they saw Temari and her younger brother listening, they freaked out and dragged them away. From that day on, Temari and Kankuro never dared to leave the room when they were visiting Minato without their mother, just in case a repeat of that day happened.

Temari shudders, snapping the curtains closed. She had known that Suna and Konoha's relationship was getting tense, but she never would have dreamed that Suna would declare war on Konoha.

She stares at her bag, carelessly thrown on top of the bed, and makes her decision. If she couldn't bear Suna, and she couldn't stay in Konoha without war, then she wouldn't be in either country.

She would leave and go somewhere else, somewhere she could be free of her father and of the guilt of war on Konoha.

/\/\

Shikamaru takes the steps two at a time, knowing that if he doesn't get to the top fast enough Temari will have already left. He knows her well enough that once she decides something, it is nearly impossible to get her to change her mind.

He skids to a stop in front of her door, knocking before throwing it open desperately. Temari stares at him wide-eyed, her bag slung over her shoulder. He glares at her and walks to the bed, standing on one side, the blonde on the other.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asks.

"I'm leaving," Temari says. "I can't have the guilt of knowing that it's my fault Suna is declaring war on Konoha hanging over me."

"It's not your fault," Shikamaru says, placing his palms on the bed to lean closer to her. His dark eyes are bright with intensity. "You had nothing to do with it."

"You know that's a lie, Shikamaru!" she exclaims. Her fist clenches and his eyes are drawn to it before his gaze snaps back up to her face.

"It may be a lie, but it's not your fault," he says. "You know that as well as I do."

"Shikamaru," Her voice drops suddenly, and the angry fire is gone from her eyes. "I don't belong anywhere. Not in Suna, not in Konoha. I can't do this."

"Temari, you have to stop thinking the way you are." Shikamaru's fingers twist into the quilt lying across the mattress. "Stay here. It's not safe for you out there."

"I can take care of myself," she counters. She grabs her hat and tucks her long hair back up into it.

"You don't know how many enemies your father has. If one of them catches you, it might be the end," Shikamaru tries desperately. She shakes her head.

"I may be a princess, but I do know how to protect myself. As soon as I can, I'm sending a letter to my brother. Maybe he can make my father see sense. But until then, I can't be here." She straightens and tires to get around him to the door, but he blocks her.

"Fine," he says. "You can leave. But know that if you do, I'll send every single one of my father's men after you. You'll be captured and brought back here, and you'll be watched twenty-four-seven until you see sense.'

"Fine," she says. "If you're so keen on keeping me safe, why don't you just come with me? That way you can be assured that I won't be kidnapped, and I won't have the entire population of Konoha after me."

Shikamaru sighs, throwing his hands in the air. "Fine!"

She smirks, and he realizes a moment too late that he had fallen into her trap.

"Damn it, you troublesome woman," he mutters as he follows her out of the room.

A/N:I am definitely biting off more than I can chew. I have, what, ten stories that are unfinished? Why, Ino, why?


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long. I know I promised I would, but I just lost the motivation. I've lost the motivation to do everything. Some mornings I wake up and I just wonder if there's any point to it. I've just been going through so much shit the past couple months with my friends and family, and I could have been spending so much time writing and didn't.

I've decided that I'm just going on a break. I can't handle the guilt I feel because I haven't updated but I don't want to force something out that won't be as good as it could be.

This hiatus shouldn't be too long - school is ending soon but I am also being shipped off to my grandparent's the day after school ends and God-knows where else. I'll try - I swear to God, I will try - to write, but I can't make any promises. Until I get through all this crap, I can't make any promises.

I am so sorry for getting your hopes up a new chapter. I hate myself for this, but I just couldn't handle this anymore. I'm sorry.


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